Masked Wounds
by yukuro
Summary: When Naruto does not come home after a mission, Sasuke goes out to find him. In a quiet, secluded forest, what can they learn from and about each other? [SasukexNaruto]


**Disclaimer:** Ah, I love all the characters as much as a creator would, but I guess only Kishimoto-sensei owns them.

**Pairing:** SasukexNaruto

**Note:** This is future "AU" set.

**Masked Wounds**

By: yukuro

Another day had slipped by like smooth sand sliding through gaps left by fingers. It was another day like the rest in which everyone ran about busily, carrying out dangerous missions, knowing that one day some of them may not return. Death was constantly nipping playfully at their heels, but they continued to carry on. It was, after all, the lifestyle that they had chosen for themselves.

The sun had already set when Sasuke looked up to gaze out the window. He could feel Sakura's curious gaze following him but said nothing to her. They were eating dinner together, which had long since become a routine. The only problem was that the third member of their dinner party was missing that day.

"Naruto is late today, isn't he?" Sakura sighed quietly, setting her bowl and chopsticks back on the table. "I was pretty sure he was supposed to be coming back from his mission today. It's a rare day when you're both back from your missions for us to eat dinner together again. Naruto really is late… I hope nothing happened to him."

Silently, Sasuke rose to his feet and grabbed his cloak. It was cold out tonight. The sun had barely set but the cool winter winds already made his skin feel icy.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"I'm going for a walk," the boy replied simply, heading towards the door. Pausing just before he slipped out, he called back quietly, "Keep some food warm for that idiot."

Sakura felt her lips turn up in a slight smile as the door clicked shut. The three of them had grown up together since the time they were placed in the same group when they were younger. Of course, over the years, Sakura had to notice that while both Sasuke and Naruto liked to pretend it was not so, they really did care for and look after each other the most. Since she knew this, she understood the reason for Sasuke's sudden departure.

Smiling, she got up to her feet and placed her hands on her waist. "Since Sasuke-kun is going out to look for Naruto, I should make some more soup to warm them up when they get back."

As Sakura headed towards the kitchen, she glanced out the window and saw Sasuke walking quietly down the streets alone in the rising moonlight. Then without reason, she smiled.

Sasuke treaded at a steady pace through the roads of Konoha Gakure. He continuously restrained himself from going too fast or too slow. If he walked too quickly, he would feel both embarrassed and ridiculous for being so worried. However, if he walked too slowly, he would only feel more irritatingly worried about that idiot, Naruto. It was all Naruto's fault for being an idiot and not coming to meet them on time, Sasuke scowled inwardly, his face reddening slightly from the cold and slightly from embarrassment.

He let his feet carry him without bother to look where he was going. Somehow, his body was used to looking for Naruto all the time and always knew which direction to go without Sasuke having to think about it. Sasuke had, after all, spent about three to four years now constantly having to go out searching for Naruto.

Trees loomed around him and as leaves crunched under his feet, Sasuke realized he was already in the forest. At that point, he also knew where his body was carrying him. Still at his not-too-fast yet not-too-slow pace, Sasuke continued to walk calmly through the forest. When a familiar figure lying in a pile of leaves finally came into view, Sasuke felt his concern melt down a notch.

It was almost strange, he thought, that he was able to identify Naruto even when the other boy had his Anbu mask still strapped to his face. Walking to his friend's side with his feet crunching drying leaves, Sasuke stated in his calm, almost-irritated tone, "Late today, aren't you? You've made Sakura worried again."

"Sasuke…" Naruto muttered in a tone that told Sasuke that the blond was smiling a bit underneath that mask. "You found me again, huh?"

"It's not that hard to find you, you idiot," Sasuke replied, folding his arms. He gazed sternly down at the mask that gazed back up at him. "I'm used to it already anyway."

"Ah, that's right, isn't it?" Naruto said with cheerfulness that sounded forced. For a few moments, the cool wind blew around them quietly; scattering leaves here and there about the ground. As the wind took its turn to whistle, Naruto and Sasuke remained silent. Though one wore a mask, their gazes connected with a tight knot.

Finally, Naruto closed his eyes beneath his mask and rolled over to his side until Sasuke could no longer see his face. "Sorry for making you come out, Sasuke. Apologize to Sakura-chan for me will you? I'm not going home tonight."

"Don't be stupid," Sasuke said with a slight scowl. "You can apologize to her yourself when you get back. Tonight. Right now."

On any other day, Sasuke was used to having Naruto jump up and break into a fight with him. It always was too easy for Naruto to lose his patience. This day, however, Naruto did not move nor even make a sound. He simply continued to lay on the pile of leaves with the cool wind blowing around him.

"Sorry, Sasuke," Naruto repeated quietly.

Running a hand roughly through his dark hair with an irritated sigh, Sasuke plopped down on the pile of leaves to sit next to Naruto. "You're too careless. Sleeping in the forest by yourself… Are you really a member of Anbu?"

Sasuke's sudden warmth at his side surprised Naruto. Opening his eyes, he rolled onto his back again to curiously peer up at Sasuke through his mask. Although Sasuke was staring straight ahead and avoiding his gaze, Naruto recognized his friend's expression. He was embarrassed, as much as he tried to hide it with a twitching frown. Naruto almost laughed in amusement. Sasuke was quite cute with that expression on his face.

Quietly, the wind blew again and Naruto redirected his gaze towards the sky again. "I always feel like I'm being watched," he murmured quietly, reaching an arm out to point at a particularly bright light twinkling in the sky. "Because of that star."

Sasuke gazed up at the blinking red tainted light in the sky. "That's not a star," he responded quietly but a bit gruffly. "That's Mars."

"Same thing," Naruto suddenly laughed embarrassedly. "But it's so bright during this season, it reminds of an eye, you know? Every time I looked up at the stars today, I felt like it was just watching me. Scrutinizing me," he muttered, growing more serious as his tone grew darker, "watching every sin I commit. They're cold, unfeeling."

The dark-haired boy remained silent for a while as the stars twinkled and winked at him from the sky. Bright autumn stars dotted the dark sky brilliantly, making the sky seem colorful though it was the dark of night. Closing his eyes, he responded smoothly, "But aren't stars one of the rare things you can see from anywhere in the world? You're not the only one being watched. I am too. You can't do anything about it. This is the life we chose from the moment we became shinobi."

Naruto paused for a moment before letting out another light, embarrassed laugh. "I guess you're right. It's my dream, but somehow, I still feel guilty."

Silenced passed between them again for a few moments before Sasuke finally spoke up again. "Naruto," he began, glancing down at his still-masked friend out of the corner of his eyes, "what happened today?"

The only response Sasuke received was the crunching of leaves as the wind blew them across the ground. Naruto remained very quiet, even when Sasuke fully turned his head to gaze down at him. Without his mask on, Naruto was sure he would have broken down in an instance under Sasuke's intense gaze. Slowly, he closed his eyes.

"You know, Sasuke," Naruto suddenly said with bitter cheerfulness, "I killed five people today. My two partners in my group and the other three that opposed us on our mission today."

Turning again to gaze straight ahead, Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment but continued to listen silently.

"I only paused for a second," Naruto went on, his voice calming slightly but growing steadily quieter, "but it only took one second. Before I knew it, my two companions that were fighting beside me only a moment ago were dead. I must have gone crazy then. In the next instant, the three enemies were dead too."

Under his mask, Naruto closed his eyes. Slowly, he brought his hand up to touch the forehead part of his mask that would have been a little over his left eye. "I got away with hardly a scratch, but somehow everything still feels painful. I wonder if it's punishment for killing those people."

Sasuke silently pulled a leaf out that had blown into his hair. Letting it flutter away in the wind again, Sasuke gazed forward again, letting Naruto continue.

"When we got back in the afternoon today, I went to see my companions' families," Naruto continued quietly, not daring to glance over at Sasuke. Instead, he directed his eyes up at the twinkling stars. "They were so sad… Even though they couldn't cry, through their eyes they looked broken. People are sad when those that they love die, right?"

Cool wind blew between them quietly, chilling the atmosphere as Naruto's words slowly died down to a whisper.

"I had to wonder," Naruto whispered, covering the mask's eyeholes with his arm, putting him in darkness, "when I die, will there also be people that will feel sad? Or will it be relief of finally being rid of the demon fox?"

Once Naruto's words died away on his lips, Sasuke finally began to move. Slowly, he turned to face the other boy and leaned over to carefully push away the boy's arm. Without an explanation or warning, Sasuke gently untied Naruto's mask and pulled it away from his face. There was a small cut on the sharp curve of his thinning face that had already been bandaged and a cut over his eye that only continued to bleed more.

"So that's what you've been hiding from me," Sasuke muttered softly, leaning over to lick the blood away. "You're such an idiot. If you go out and hurt yourself again I'll personally kill you."

"Even though that sounds weird, I can tell you're trying hard to be nice, right?" Naruto said with a faint smirk. His eyes were still closed even as he felt Sasuke's warm breath on his forehead and a tongue darting out to lick at his wound. "That's so like you, Sasuke. Always acting cool."

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he gently dabbed at the wound with a bit of his sleeve. "I'm not acting 'cool,'" he responded simply, "you're the one who's acting stupid. You come home early but don't go home and end up sleeping in the forest. You're not acting like your usual annoyingly cheerful self."

"Isn't that less troublesome for you?" Naruto muttered with a slight sigh as he felt Sasuke's fingers trail down the long bandage on the side of his face.

"You were annoying like that, but you're more annoying like this," Sasuke grumbled in reply, pressing down the corner of the bandage that had rolled off. "It's too weird seeing you without that goofy smile of yours. Though it's annoying to say so, I prefer you that way."

At that moment, Naruto's eyes slowly opened to look at Sasuke's face for the first time that day. Naruto had long since grown used to Sasuke's expressionless face that always peered back at him, but it took a while to be more easily read. Somehow, Naruto could read all the feelings Sasuke had within him at that moment although his expression never changed. Just knowing those feelings were already enough.

Sitting up slowly, Naruto leaned up towards Sasuke's face and let their lips meet. Sasuke always responded and took control of their kiss in the same way: strong and dominant, yet gentle all at once. When they finally broke apart for air, their surroundings no longer felt cold anymore.

Sighing, Naruto fell back down on the leaves again, redirecting his gaze back up at the stars. "Those red stars keep staring back every time I look up at them," he began quietly, blue eyes sparkling. It almost makes me nervous knowing those eyes of yours keep watching me. I'm afraid you might find out how weak I've become."

"If you know I'm watching then you know you had better not do anything stupid that would get you hurt and would make me annoyed with you, right?" Sasuke said in reply, slowly bringing his own eyes to look up at the stars. "I'll never forgive you if you even think about dying out there, moron."

"Yes, yes," Naruto said with a slight grin. "Ah… It's not easy for you to be showing your concern so easily. Are you starting to soften, Sasuke?"

Scowling in embarrassment, Sasuke adjusted his collar so that it hid a good portion of his face. "That's completely your fault."

There was a slight pause of silence before Naruto began again, "You know, Sasuke… You really are like a brother to me."

"A brother you make out and do perverted things with, huh?" Sasuke asked dully with a smirk. "Are you implying you're incestuous?"

"Shut up," Naruto scowled in embarrassment, throwing a handful of leaves at Sasuke's face. "Whose fault is that? Besides, you know that's not what I meant. Pervert."

As he reached over to help pick the leaves out of Sasuke's hair, Naruto purposely avoided Sasuke's gaze and kept his eyes on the leaves clinging to the dark hair before him. It was not until Sasuke reached up to take hold of Naruto's wrist that Naruto finally looked into Sasuke's dark, serious eyes. For a moment, he forgot his words.

"What do you mean then?"

Regaining his ability to speak again, Naruto manage to mutter quietly, "Sasuke, don't ever die before me. I'll be very angry…but I'm sure I'll be sad too, like those people I met today. If you die before me, I'll…I'll kill you."

Sasuke smirked before he let out a quiet laugh. Of course, he would never admit he would also be sad if Naruto were to die anytime soon as well.

"I was being serious!" Naruto exclaimed, frowning slightly. "Stop making fun of me, Sasuke!"

"Stupid," Sasuke said with a smirk, using his other hand to flick the other boy's forehead. "Who wants to die before you? Although it would be interesting to see you try to re-kill the dead, I don't plan on dying anytime before my rival. But if you die before me, I'll never forgive you either."

"Then…doesn't that mean we have to die at the same time?" Naruto asked, slightly confused. He brought his free hand up to rub the part of his forehead where Sasuke had flicked until the other boy actually leaned over to kiss the spot, more out of forced apology than to be romantic.

"I don't see that happening any time soon," Sasuke said somewhat sarcastically as he sat up straight again. "This is a stupid topic anyway. Forget about who's going to die when. Just concentrate on living for now."

Naruto closed his eyes and smiled in agreement. Sasuke had not really done anything for him, but he felt better. He always did think it was strange that no matter how hard he tried to mask his wounds, Sasuke would always find them and unconsciously heal them. It was hard to understand, but Naruto supposed that was the only way it would always be.

Sasuke glanced over when Naruto finally sat up and reached over for his Anbu mask. Tying it neatly to the side of his head, Naruto stood up and stretched as Sasuke merely observed quietly.

"I guess I am getting a little hungry," Naruto said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with a grin. "Shall we go home, Sasuke?"

Closing his eyes for a moment, Sasuke let out a soft "hn," before getting up to his feet as well. Dusting himself off, Sasuke began to back towards the village as he commented, "It's pretty late now. Sakura probably already went back to her own home by now."

"Ah, that's true," Naruto said cheerfully, running to fall into step with Sasuke. "I guess I'll have to thank her for dinner tomorrow then."

As the moon rose higher in the sky, the footsteps in the forest slowly faded away.

Owari.


End file.
